Am I ready for it?

[Adobo]

I was just wondering if I'm ready to take up fundies. Do some of you out there who took fundamentals start class fully prepared, or somewhat try to make it though the class?

I'm asking because I'm interested in taking fundies and it seems like a pretty tough course to go through, but the training my instructor/mentor put me though was pretty close (I think). My instructor is GUE trained and trained his students in this way of diving (including equipment). He trained me and his students to be able to control movements in the water column without any problems, gave me beatings left and right with mask removal drills, valve drills, s-drills, line laying, etc etc. I mean he was tough! If my trim was ever off, he scold me I could hear him through his reg especially when I killed him, myself, or my buddy during drills "Your dead! Your dead!!!" ha ha.

Is my level of skill up to par? I guess the only way I'll find out is if I take the course and hopefully pass lol. What was your experience?

And why is there so few instructors out there? Is it that difficult to become an instructor aside from budget limitations for people like me?

Personally, I think the best way to approach Fundies is to treat it as a two part class. The first part is instructional. Most people will be shown equipment, procedures and skills that they have never seen before. They'll have 4 days (or whatever) of instruction and practice. At this portion of the class,it is important that your focus remain on learning. Absorb what you can, ask questions and don't be afraid to mess up. Learn, learn and learn some more. All through out the class, your instructor will tell you what you are doing well and what you can do better. At the end of the class, your instructor will summarize this information for you.

Part 2 takes place at some point in the future (several weeks later as an example). Students will have an opportunity to do a checkout dive where you get to show the instructor how much proficiency you have attained in the weeks since you finished the instructional portion. At that point, you would have had enough time to digest all of the info in the class and have had time to get yourself trimmed out, practice mid water skills and you would have had a chance to work on all the items that you were given to work on.. Your chances of meeting or exceeding the "bar" will be pretty high at that point. This evaluation doesn't take long and is relatively painless.

Now, some folks will go into fundies having good familiarity on much of the material. They might even have obtained some level of proficiency and so the learning curve during class, for them, is relatively easy. For these folks, several weeks of additional practice is not required. They may already be at or exceeding the bar at the end of the class. At this point, the instructor might just say, "no need for me to see you again in a few weeks. You're good to go right now."

I talk to quite a few people about fundies and some people really get caught up in the notion of passing the class. In the case of my instructor, just about every student passes the class eventually. Some students need a couple of extra dives to get things nailed down. Some students don't. It's more important to focus on the learning. You'll pass the class soon enough.

 

[Carribeandiver]

my GUE DIR F class sure wasnt as you describe. My class was 8 am to 6 pm Friday - classroom; 8 am till 6 pm or somewhere thereabout - dives and 8 am till 6 pm or somewhere thereabouts - dives, grading, discussion.
Who was your instructor?

 

[KMD]

my GUE DIR F class sure wasnt as you describe. My class was 8 am to 6 pm Friday - classroom; 8 am till 6 pm or somewhere thereabout - dives and 8 am till 6 pm or somewhere thereabouts - dives, grading, discussion.
Who was your instructor?

Beto Nava is the instructor. His classes usually run with 2 half days of instruction 1 half day of free diving pool work. 2 days of pool work and 2 days of open water work.

 

[Adobo]

my GUE DIR F class sure wasnt as you describe. My class was 8 am to 6 pm Friday - classroom; 8 am till 6 pm or somewhere thereabout - dives and 8 am till 6 pm or somewhere thereabouts - dives, grading, discussion.
Who was your instructor?

The class which included all of the lecture, pool work, in ocean dives and post dive briefings happened over the course of essentially 5 days. No different than your class. After the class ended, he sat each one of us down and summarized what he thought we did well and what he thought we needed to do better. In the case of KMD, the instructor felt that the level of proficiency in each skill was either at or above the bar already so coming back for a checkout dive was unnecessary. In my case, he thought I needed to tweak a few things. A month later, the instructor did my evaluation on a checkout dive.

All I am proposing is that people getting ready to take this class really need to decouple the learning portion of the class from the evaluation. Every current/former GUE instructor I have talked to (6) has/had the notion of a "checkout dive" which is done at some time post class. During the checkout dive, you are given the opportunity to show the instructor whether or not you have reached the level of proficiency that they are looking for. If you have, you get the "pass".

So my advice to the OP is, forget about the grade and just focus on learning.

 

[wunat]

I was just wondering if I'm ready to take up fundies. Do some of you out there who took fundamentals start class fully prepared, or somewhat try to make it though the class?

With regards to my perspective toward fundies and what you have wrote, I would say you are certainly ready for the class. You seem to have a good understanding and probably agree on what DIR is all about. I think that is the only element one should use to judge if (s)he is ready for fundies or not. With such attitude, I believe (s)he will get lots out of the class despite what ratings (s)he will get at the end of the course.

I know that many, if not most, are more concerned with regards to whether (s)he will PASS the course or not. Personally, I think that it is not as important as understanding the philosophy behind what you are picking up from the course itself. It is a typical human thingy to want to get the PASS rating by the end of a course and I am no different when I took my fundies last year. Passing the course certainly gives you additional senses of achievement but going through the course alone is a wonderful experience if you are looking to become a better diver.

So when you wonder "if you are ready for fundies or not?", I would say YES. But if your questions is "if you are ready to PASS the fundies or not?", then no one really knows without taking the course. You should be excited about the fact that you have desire to sharpen your mentality in become a better diver. I would say that it is more important than whether you have the skill yet or not.

"Skills can be trained and practiced, attitudes, hmmmmmmmmm......................."

Just my view on this. Hope it gives you some food for thoughts.

 

[TSandM]

Just to correct one thing . . . Although it seems to be commonly stated that one must be a dangerous diver or have a bad attitude to fail Fundies, THAT IS NOT TRUE. What I was told is that if, in the opinion of the instructor, you have little or no likelihood of attaining a passing standard within six months WITHOUT further formal instruction, you will be given a fail. A provisional implies that the instructor feels that, although you fell short in one or more areas, you will be able to achieve the needed proficiency just through practice.

I came very close to failing Fundies (I begged for my provisional -- it wasn't pretty). But it was not because I was either dangerous or had a bad attitude. It was because I sucked

 

[Whale Whisperer]

Thank you everyone for your encouragement! I understand now that it's a learning process to improve one self (Which is something I'm always working on) than getting a "certification". Although it is needed to progress into other types of diving such as Cave I. There is always room for improvment so I think I'm definitly ready! Now I just have to find the time and the place... Hmmmmm

 

[Whale Whisperer]

I came very close to failing Fundies (I begged for my provisional -- it wasn't pretty). But it was not because I was either dangerous or had a bad attitude. It was because I sucked

I think we all sucked at one time lol. My previous instructor tells me I'm too hard on myself sometimes especially when I make bone headed mistakes ha ha

 

[H2Andy]

yeah ... i think that unless you have thirty or forty dives or less, you are ready to start on the road to better diving, in which DIR-F can be the first step

the journey is the destination

 

[rjack321]

Just to correct one thing . . . Although it seems to be commonly stated that one must be a dangerous diver or have a bad attitude to fail Fundies, THAT IS NOT TRUE. What I was told is that if, in the opinion of the instructor, you have little or no likelihood of attaining a passing standard within six months WITHOUT further formal instruction, you will be given a fail. A provisional implies that the instructor feels that, although you fell short in one or more areas, you will be able to achieve the needed proficiency just through practice.

I came very close to failing Fundies (I begged for my provisional -- it wasn't pretty). But it was not because I was either dangerous or had a bad attitude. It was because I sucked

This is the 1st I've heard of this policy. Must be tightening their belts. At least under the historic training director a grade of 1 on anything meant "dangerous" - as long as you didn't get a 1 on anything you could checkout within 6 months for a pass.

This all predated the rec vs. tech pass stuff and the changes ot the standards.

Regardless, you shouldn't be in the class to pass. Its a class afterall, just go to learn. One of the best ways to decide whether DIR and GUE are for you.